Mini blinds have been known and used for many years for the selective admission of light into a room and for privacy. Typically, mini blinds are installed at a window opening and include a plurality of slats that can be pivoted between an open horizontal position and a closed, nearly vertical position.
A conventional mini blind includes a head rail mounted to head rail supports that are positioned near the top of the window opening. The head rail generally has a U-shaped cross-section with an open interior for receiving the various components that control the pivotable slats. The head rail also includes a number of apertures for access to the various control components, e.g., flexible ladders, basket assemblies, drawcord assemblies and a tilt control wand.
The flexible ladders which support the pivotable slats are usually connected to the basket assemblies through appropriate aperatures in the bottom of the head rail. Additionally, access holes are provided for the pullcord which raises and lowers the bottom rail and the slats, and for the tilt control wand used to control the tilter bar. The basket assemblies, in turn, facilitate control of the flexible ladders which allow the slats to pivot between open and closed positions.
The basket assemblies generally include a framework which rests within the open interior of the head rail and a rotator element to which the flexible ladders are attached. The ladders each have two flexible strings which are suspended from this rotating element with the strings being connected over opposed sides of the rotating element. Thus, when the rotator element is rotated in one direction, one string will be lowered while the other string is raised, and the opposite result is achieved when the element is rotated in the opposite direction. Each ladder also includes a plurality of cross links connected between the two strings. The slats are positioned over these cross links along the length of the ladders. When the rotator elements are rotated, the slats are pivoted as one end of each cross link is pulled upwards while the other end of each cross link is lowered.
To ensure that each ladder and its respective cross links are pivoted the same amount, a tilter bar is connected to a gearbox at one end of the head rail which, in turn, is connected through an appropriate aperture in the head rail to the tilt control wand. Thus, a person may rotate the tilter bar by rotating the wand which pivots the slats to a position that allows total privacy or the desired amount of light to pass through the mini blind.
In current mini blind systems, various contours are fitted to the front face of the head rails for different designs. Unfortunately, with the current systems, only one display contour can be formed on the front face of the head rail. The complexity of the components, including the basket assemblies to tilt the slats, prohibits turning the head rail around to display a second contour formed on the back face of the head rail. Consequently, mini blind manufacturers are restricted to manufacturing head rails with only a single "good" or display face.
It is therefore desirable to provide a universal head rail that would permit manufacturers to form two display contours at one time on both the front and back faces of the head rail. It would further be desirable to design a universal head rail having the tilt control wand on either the right side or the left side of the head rail regardless of the contour being displayed.